The present invention aims at providing an image forming apparatus capable of reliably applying cleaning liquid onto a conveyance belt.
In the prior art, image forming apparatuses are known in which ink is ejected from nozzles perforated in a recording head, toward a recording medium placed on a conveyance belt so that an image is formed on the recording medium. Image forming apparatuses of this type have a problem that, for example, when page-margin free printing is performed, ink can be adhered to the conveyance belt conveying the recording medium, and that the adhered ink can then be transferred to the recording medium.
In order to solve this problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-196505 discloses a technique that a tank for storing cleaning liquid is connected to an absorber via a tube so that the cleaning liquid is absorbed from the tank to the absorber via the tube. Then, when the absorber having absorbed the cleaning liquid contacts with the surface of the conveyance belt, the cleaning liquid is applied onto the conveyance belt, while the applied cleaning liquid is wiped away by a blade so that the ink adhered to the conveyance belt is removed.